Tips & Tricks

Surface facet selection tool in CFD-VisCART

CFD-VisCART has always allowed surface selection where any surface can be selected by clicking on the graphics area or in the explorer window. Additionally, there is Facet Selection tool that allows the user to select individual facets or triangles of a surface (each surface is composed of triangulated faces called facets).

Plotting Multiple Variables in the CFD-VIEW Plotter

Plotting two or more variables on same plot having values of different magnitude/scale becomes difficult or many times impossible. In these cases plotting data with multiple Y-axes becomes very useful and sometimes necessary.

Integer Cell Size Specification in CFD-VisCART

As it was explained in a previous tip called Understanding cell-splitting in CFD-VisCART and its effect on cell count, a small change in a specified cell size could lead to drastic changes in the cell count due to the cell-splitting rules used by CFD-VisCART.

Importing external data in the CFD-VIEW Plotter

Comparing computational results to experimental data is a task often asked of CFD analysts and engineers. The line/curve plotter in CFD-VIEW is commonly used for plotting computational results along curves, such as line probes, surface slices, time histories, etc. CFD-VIEW offers a feature that allows users to import experimental or other external data in the same plot, thus making it easy to compare results.

Fit to View in CFD-VisCART

In CFD-VisCART, the 'Fit to View' function was improved in V2007. It now checks the blanking status before setting the view. In this tip, a car model will be used to demonstrate the Fit to View capability.

Coloring Surfaces in CFD-VisCART for Better Model Visualization

A typical model imported into CFD-VisCART may contain a number of parts and surfaces. By default, all surfaces come in with the default color (set under Edit → Preferences → Colors → Geometry Colors → Surfaces). Representing these surfaces with different colors would improve the appearance of the model and make it easier for the user to distinguish one surface (or part) from the other.

CFD-VisCART 'Save Image' feature

As in CFD-VIEW, CFD-VisCART has a 'Save image' feature that allows you to save snapshots of you model. If you are interested in this tip, please read on.

User Defined Curve Probes in CFD-VIEW

CFD-VIEW allows the user to create curve probes from a file containing XYZ data. This feature gives the user flexibility of collecting data on any specified/desired curve in the computational domain. As an example of use, these "curved line" probes could be used to sample simulation data at the same locations that experimental data was collected.

Tracking Multiple Variables with Multiple Legends

When post-processing with CFD-VIEW, one may wish to display two different variables on two different objects. This requires the use of two legends to correspond to the different color mapping of the variables. The legend tracking feature in CFD-VIEW can be used to achieve this. If this topic is of interest to you, please read on.

Making it Easy to Add a Box Source in CFD-VisCART

Sources are used in CFD-VisCART to refine the grid in localized regions of the domain. One of the many types of sources available is the Box Source where the user specifies a cuboid box around the region a finer grid is required. In the earlier versions, the user would have to add a Box Source and then specify its X, Y and Z extents to position the box in the desired location.